What is your most prized Lions item or collectible?

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

The bottom of my poster says that both Flutie and Millington are absent.

[Robbie]

And I'm fairly sure I was the one who expounded on DF's absence from the photo

Yeah, the first time the topic arose was on this thread when D posted a news article about how Darren Flutie's wife Terri might be going into labour, and you expanded on it:

http://lionbackers.com/bc_lions/viewtop ... a&start=45

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

First, about the 1994 West Division Semi-Final at Commonwealth Stadium.

#1.
If I recall correctly, the Lions dominated the Eskimos for three quarters, starting with a blocked punt that went for a safety and they led as much as 21-9. But in the fourth quarter, the Eskimos quickly got back into the game by scoring two quick TD's for a 23-21 lead, one of which was a 75-yard bomb by Damon Allen to Eddie Brown. The best receiver that day was definitely Downtown Eddie Brown as he ended up with 6 passes for 185 yards in a losing cause. The Eskimos threatened to score a third quick TD but that was snuffed out when Charles Gordon intercepted a DA pass right at the goal line and that set the stage for the final drive. Would you say that other than allowing those two TD's, the Lions defence was very good in that game?

I'd be glad to answer these questions. I watch this tape every so often, though I'm going to have to look at a few parts again to answer this.

Yeah, Brown was huge in that game, but I would say the Lions D was certainly good enough, sans the 4th quarter meltdown. The tape shows some big time sacks by Andrew Stewart and Virgil Robertson. Edmonton had a few minor drives but when you can hold a team to 23 points and to 12 points after 3 quarters, it's a great day. I would say it seemed overall the Lions had the upper hand most of the game, they pretty much had all the momentum for the middle two quarters. They start the highlights for this game with the first Lions TD, which was a Millington run, to make it 7-2. It was 7-5 after one, and Eddie got his 1st TD of the game at the start of the 2nd to make it 12-7 Esks. The Lions countered with 10 of their own, with Less Browne recovering a blocked punt and barely crossing the line to make it 17-12. It was 20-12 at the half and the only 3 points of the 3rd were a Fleming FG.

In the 4th, Millington had a pretty nice gain, about 20 yards or so, but Lou only managed a single. Less Browne got knocked out of the game on the same play as a first down run by Damon Allen. On the big lead-changing play, Allen was getting chased, he had a few pump fakes and then he finally slung it long to Brown, right as he was getting knocked down. As for the next drive, everybody remembers the Gordon INT, but nobody seems to remember the big tackle by James Jefferson to stop Lucious Floyd on that drive's pivotal play. In fact I had to check the video to see who made that play, because it was a HUGE one that gets overlooked, but it was a real nice tackle, and one of the plays I still remember seeing when it happened. He kind've had to dive to get him. I was a pretty scared young Lions fan at that moment.

On the video, they, of course, show the big interception, then they show it again in slow-mo with Dave Ritchie breaking it down. Ritchie points out that an Esks receiver was going to rub off Gordon, but he ended up getting around him (You can barely see Gordon get around the guy at the very left of the screen. It's not something you'd notice unless it was pointed out.), and the rest is history. Gordon barely had enough time to make the play, it was all in one motion. It is shown that Allen was looking left for Brown again, but then decided to throw right to Jay Christensen.

The end of the game footage with one of the officials waving an orange flag and a few Lions engaging in a hug is pretty moving (Especially with Eye of the Tiger playing over it. That song plays for the rest of the highlights of that game, starting with the Gordon interception, and the song starts right as he gets the ball.) In the newspaper clipping, it says there were more tears than cheers in the dressing room because it was such a hard fought game.

The scope of the main article in the clipping was talking about how the Lions wouldn't have been that happy to play the Riders in the West Final, how it would've been hollow to win and not play the Stamps.

#2.
In that game, Danny McManus started but was injured halfway, and Kent Austin took over for the rest of the game. At what point in the game was McManus injured and how? And overall, which QB performed better that day? From the news clippings, can you provide the statistics from that game?

McManus was injured in the 2nd quarter, and the hit that knocked him out is also in the picture on the front of the newspaper clipping. What it shows is Glenn Rogers Jr. coming in at his legs and sending him flying, and the hit is also shown on the video. It was a dirty blindside hit, right at the knees, and Danny didn't really have a chance with two Esks coming at him at once. I would say McManus had a better day, more points were scored under his watch, and Austin didn't have any real substantial drives. Neither guy had a TD pass, though. The only real big pass shown on the highlights from this game was a throw to Matt Clark on the drive where the Lions cut it to 12-10 Esks. On the day of this game, I had hockey, so I didn't get to watch most of the 1st half. So, the video shows me what I missed. I remember I also missed the first quarter of the Western Final, the next week, for the same reason.

I don't have the box score/summary for either game and no QB stats for the Lions' pivots. But from the Calgary game, it says that Darren Flutie had 11 catches and 164 yards to go with the 3 TD's, and Doug had 311 yards passing and 84 yards rushing.

#3.
As for the 1994 WDF in Calgary, it's been discussed to death in several threads and we all know about the famous final drive that started when the blocked FG attempt by Ray Alexander. So my questions are essentially the same for those previous two questions, but in the WDF:

In the WDF, Kent Austin started the game and was injured so Danny McManus stepped in for him and we all know that it was McManus who orchestrated the final drive. When and why was Austin replaced by McManus and overall, which QB performed better that day? Can you provide the statistics again?

Austin was injured at a crucial point in the game, somewhere in the 3rd quarter, when it was looking grim with Calgary up 34-21. It was Austin's shoulder. He got a harmless-looking hit on his left shoulder and then he went down without getting tackled. He just went down. He re-injured it in the Grey Cup game. Austin had a good day up until then, some great drives and long throws (which I'll get into), but by the 3rd, the momentum had slowed down, and it might've been the game's turning point. The 1st half was real entertaining and offensive for both teams.

And what are some highlights from before that final drive? What were some good plays by both offence and defence, and did the Lions trail for the entire game until the final play?

It was 4-0 Lions, early on, then Tony Stewart had a nice run to make it 7-4. Austin marched the Lions downfield and the game was tied. Calgary got a FG and then on their next drive, Tony Stewart got a reception and then got the ball knocked out of his hands. Allen Pitts picked it up and got tackled between the 5 and the goal-line, setting up Stewart's second TD. 17-7 Calgary.

Austin made a good 30+ yard throw to Yo Murphy, and then once in the red zone, Philpot got a first down and Millington finished off the drive. 17-14. Doug Flutie got stripped by Angelo Snipes on the next drive. Snipes took a jab at the ball and it just fell out. Austin made his best play of the day, a 49 yard catch and run TD to Darren to give the Lions a brief 21-17 lead. Darren's older brother finished off the half with 25+ and 8 yard passes to Will Moore, the latter being a TD with just over 20 seconds left in the half. 24-21 at the break.

Note: When Armitage is interviewing Buono at the half, he looks exactly like Bubbles on the Trailer Park Boys episode where he was dressed as a Russian cop. Spitting image. He's got this black parka and hat thing going on and the resemblance is uncanny.

Calgary starts the 3rd with a FG. Then when the Stamps have the ball again, Flutie is pressured big time and hangs it up for Enis Jackson. He intercepts it at the Lions' 16, but then he gets stripped 18 yards later. Can't hold that ball like a loaf of bread. This leads to Tony Stewart's 3rd major. This is the bleakest part of the game as Austin's injury is soon after.

The video shows the snow starting to fall and McManus comes in, the field is still visible. Yo Murphy gets hit with a 30 or so yard pass and then gets hammered by at least 2 Stamps. It's a pretty amazing hit/tackle, and I find it to be one of the memorable plays of the game because of it. Flutie gets his 2nd major soon after, on that memorable catch in the back right corner of the end zone. 34-28 Stamps.

On the next drive, Flutie is pressured, his face full of two Lions and another hanging to his leg. Dave Chaytors gets hit in the numbers with the pass, some 5-10 yards ahead. Lui gets a 48 yard FG, which almost grazes the crossbar. Barry Houlihan, the narrator, states that the ball made it through by 48 millimeters. Mark McLoughlin curves a field goal attempt to the left for a single to make it 35-31 Stamps. Then Lou misses one of his own and it is run out to between the 10-20 yardlines. It is around this time that the snow is finally sticking. The ref backs the Stamps up to their own 6 after the return. I remember watching this game and thinking we had the Stamps where we wanted them. But Calgary had the most dangerous players in the league, and that player ended up making one of the most memorable runs I have ever seen a quarterback make, and a game-changing one at that. The older Flutie ran it from the Stamps' 6 to the Lions' 45, and he ran it straight up the middle the whole play. He even slid 5 yards, as Chris Cuthbert noted. What could've been devastating turned into McLoughlin missing his second straight FG attempt.

Philpot fumbled with 3 minutes remaining, and I remember how much of a kick in the balls it felt like when I was watching at the time. No way could Calgary blow this one. It was a nightmare. Seeing it in the video, it doesn't feel so bad now, but Philpot was holding the ball all wrong. The ball was mostly above his arm, not very secure at all. Everything after this goat-like play is well known and remembered in Lions-land, starting with the big block.

The final play of the game has the CKNW play-by-play, and the rest of the video is the CBC version, as is, with Houlihan narration over it.

1994 Grey Cup Champions poster.
I heard somebody say that Darren Flutie was away when the team picture was taken because he was attending to his wife's when she was expecting. So therefore, Darren Flutie was planted on to the team picture. Can you confirm that? Perhaps you can show a zoom-in of Darren Flutie in the poster.

Flutie and Millington are not in my poster. I was not aware of any alternate version until I read this thread, but I always found it strange that two of the Lions' real star players weren't there. I wonder if Millington was on a trip somewhere. My theory is that maybe he won a trip for being named Most Valuable Canadian of the Grey Cup. I could be wrong. Considering he's from here, it's not like he had to go home like Flutie or like any other player from out of town or out of the country.

[sj-roc]

And I'm fairly sure I was the one who expounded on DF's absence from the photo

Yeah, the first time the topic arose was on this thread when D posted a news article about how Darren Flutie's wife Terri might be going into labour, and you expanded on it:

http://lionbackers.com/bc_lions/viewtop ... a&start=45

Just to make a correction in my last post in this thread, Enis Jackson was wearing #29 in the photo, not #26 as I originally stated; that number belonged to Charles Gordon.

In hindsight, the retouching to add Flutie, Millington and Tony Jackson seems rather obvious on my copy (I was always suspicious of DF's presence from his personal circumstances at the time) because the numbers on their jerseys appear thinner and blurrier than on the rest of the players'. In DF's case his entire image is a little blurrier.

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

Sean Millington (#25) was added to my version, in the second row from the bottom, immediately between Matt Clark (#85) and Enis Jackson (#26). Come to think of it, both Sean and Enis (who was also on the above) appear to be photoshop add-ons on my version. Comment, 3x1-1?

Enis Jackson is in my version, his picture has to be legit. In the Lions book I have, they show both versions, the one with Millington and Flutie showing the Vancouver skyline below the one that is the poster on my wall. Millington is standing slightly sideways (the 5 on his jersey is covered by Enis Jackson's shoulder). On closer inspection, in the original poster, Enis Jackson is standing next to Spencer McLennan, but to Enis' left and Spencer's right, there are gaps (the gap to Enis' left being a little smaller, explaining Millington standing slightly sideways in the doctored version.). Millington and Flutie replace the gaps. I think the 8 on Flutie's jersey does in fact look a little skinnier, but it could be due to angle.

[sj-roc]

Sean Millington (#25) was added to my version, in the second row from the bottom, immediately between Matt Clark (#85) and Enis Jackson (#26). Come to think of it, both Sean and Enis (who was also on the above) appear to be photoshop add-ons on my version. Comment, 3x1-1?

Enis Jackson is in my version, his picture has to be legit. In the Lions book I have, they show both versions, the one with Millington and Flutie showing the Vancouver skyline below the one that is the poster on my wall. Millington is standing slightly sideways (the 5 on his jersey is covered by Enis Jackson's shoulder). On closer inspection, in the original poster, Enis Jackson is standing next to Spencer McLennan, but to Enis' left and Spencer's right, there are gaps (the gap to Enis' left being a little smaller, explaining Millington standing slightly sideways in the doctored version.). Millington and Flutie replace the gaps. I think the 8 on Flutie's jersey does in fact look a little skinnier, but it could be due to angle.

Yeah, I was able to spot EJ on your image; I was wondering if he was doctored into even your more original version. On mine, there's a slight, but clear delineation between EJ's left shoulder and the player behind him (#39, Matt Clarke) that just doesn't look natural to me. And you're right about Millington's stance — that doesn't seem to fit either.

One of the players in the second row from the bottom is wearing a numberless jersey — who is that? He's standing between Less Browne (#00) and Ray Alexander (#88), and directly behind ass't coach Dave Easley. I have a listing of the 1994 Grey Cup game roster and there's nobody from that list who would be a possibility. My best guess is Kelly Sims, but Michael Allen and Ricardo Washington are also possibilities. All three played in at least three regular season games each in 1994 and were not released before the Grey Cup game.

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

^Yeah, it's Kelly Sims.

[Robbie]

I'd be glad to answer these questions.

Thanks for finally answering my questions about the two playoffs! You're the man!

They start the highlights for this game with the first Lions TD, which was a Millington run, to make it 7-2. It was 7-5 after one, and Eddie got his 1st TD of the game at the start of the 2nd to make it 12-7 Esks. The Lions countered with 10 of their own, with Less Browne recovering a blocked punt and barely crossing the line to make it 17-12. It was 20-12 at the half and the only 3 points of the 3rd were a Fleming FG.

Okay, I finally know how the scoring went. So the blocked punt was indeed recovered for a TD instead of a safety.

In the 4th, Millington had a pretty nice gain, about 20 yards or so, but Lou only managed a single. Less Browne got knocked out of the game on the same play as a first down run by Damon Allen. On the big lead-changing play, Allen was getting chased, he had a few pump fakes and then he finally slung it long to Brown, right as he was getting knocked down.

So at halftime, it was 20-12. After the Fleming FG and Brown TD, that would be 10 points for 22 for the Eskimos. Did the Eskimos get a single as well?

I would say McManus had a better day, more points were scored under his watch, and Austin didn't have any real substantial drives.

Well, although definitely much less dramatic compared to the last drive in the WDF, let's not forget about the Lions WDSF drive as well. After the Gordon's interception, it was 23-21 for Eskimos with time running down and it was up to Austin to lead the Lions down field for at least a field goal attempt. And Austin delivered as he drove the Lions down field for 27-yard field goal attempt, which Passaglia delivered. So....that was an extremely substantial drive by Austin, wasn't it?

Neither guy had a TD pass, though. The only real big pass shown on the highlights from this game was a throw to Matt Clark on the drive where the Lions cut it to 12-10 Esks.

In http://www.bclions.com in their history section, there is this section about the 1994 WDSF:

Returning to Edmonton for the West Semi-Finals, BC was outgained badly but pulled out a 24-23 win on Lui Passaglia’s last minute 27-yard FG.
The term BC was outgained badly might be an overstatement.

And many people may not remember that after the Lions led again 24-23, the Eskimos still had a little more time, enough to get into field goal range. But this time the Lions defence delivered and forced the Eskimos to give the ball away on downs.

I don't have the box score/summary for either game and no QB stats for the Lions' pivots. But from the Calgary game, it says that Darren Flutie had 11 catches and 164 yards to go with the 3 TD's, and Doug had 311 yards passing and 84 yards rushing.

Good info.

Austin made his best play of the day, a 49 yard catch and run TD to Darren to give the Lions a brief 21-17 lead.

I remember Darren Flutie caught the pass near the sidelines and the momentum nearly carried him out of bounds but he managed to stay inbounds and avoid Eskimos receivers and head to the end zone.

Flutie gets his 2nd major soon after, on that memorable catch in the back right corner of the end zone. 34-28 Stamps.

This site from the BCL Sports Hall of Fame shows some of the highlights. The second Darren Flutie TD catch shows the scoreboard in the background - it was late in the 3rd quarter.
http://www.bcsportshalloffame.com/docs/ ... _high.html

On the next drive, Flutie is pressured, his face full of two Lions and another hanging to his leg. Dave Chaytors gets hit in the numbers with the pass, some 5-10 yards ahead. Lui gets a 48 yard FG, which almost grazes the crossbar. Barry Houlihan, the narrator, states that the ball made it through by 48 millimeters. Mark McLoughlin curves a field goal attempt to the left for a single to make it 35-31 Stamps. Then Lou misses one of his own and it is run out to between the 10-20 yardlines. It is around this time that the snow is finally sticking. The ref backs the Stamps up to their own 6 after the return. I remember watching this game and thinking we had the Stamps where we wanted them. But Calgary had the most dangerous players in the league, and that player ended up making one of the most memorable runs I have ever seen a quarterback make, and a game-changing one at that. The older Flutie ran it from the Stamps' 6 to the Lions' 45, and he ran it straight up the middle the whole play. He even slid 5 yards, as Chris Cuthbert noted. What could've been devastating turned into McLoughlin missing his second straight FG attempt.

At least Passaglia was good for 1-2 in the fourth quarter. It looks like Mark McLoughlin really costed the Stampeders when he was 0-3 in the fourth quarter.

Philpot fumbled with 3 minutes remaining, and I remember how much of a kick in the balls it felt like when I was watching at the time. No way could Calgary blow this one. It was a nightmare. Seeing it in the video, it doesn't feel so bad now, but Philpot was holding the ball all wrong. The ball was mostly above his arm, not very secure at all. Everything after this goat-like play is well known and remembered in Lions-land, starting with the big block.

Are you sure Philpot fumbled with 3 minutes? I don't think it was 3 minutes remaining because I know for sure the last Lions drive did not involve a Philpot fumbling the ball, and there was only about 1.5 minutes left as indicated by the clip. And I would assume that at 3 minutes remaining, Doug Flutie and the Stampeders had possession of the ball. So perhaps it was the second-to last Lions possession when Philpot fumbled.
[video][/video]

I wonder if Millington was on a trip somewhere. My theory is that maybe he won a trip for being named Most Valuable Canadian of the Grey Cup. I could be wrong. Considering he's from here, it's not like he had to go home like Flutie or like any other player from out of town or out of the country.

Ahem! Don't you remember how the Grey Cup player awards went? Originally, CBC stated that Lui Passaglia was Most Valuable Player while Sean Millington was Most Outstanding Canadian. But later, the CFL said it was actually Baltimore's Karl Anthony was the Most Valuable Player while Passaglia was demoted to Most Outstanding Canadian, while Millington was left to nothing. Maybe Millington was left the team picture because he was so outraged over that. :x At least, Millington got some redemption by winning MOC (for sure this time) when he won the 2000 Grey Cup Most Outstanding Canadian.

And after the WDF game, the camera showed a mascot dressed in all red leaving the field in dejected. I don't think the trophy presentation was showed.

With your videos, perhaps you could show the WDSF and WDF in Youtube.

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

Yeah, the Esks got a single, I just forgot. They show it on the video. It was before the Lions' single, and they were both in the 4th.

They do show the final Esks' offensive play in the video. They're 3rd and 2 and Allen misthrows it to a receiver on his right (right in front of the Lions bench). The guy has to dive but he can't reach it.

D'oh! You're right about Austin and that last drive in the WDSF. I forgot. Last drive was important, I guess I meant other than that. But he created a series of simple short passes (Which, you guessed it, are also shown on the tape. It's a great highlight package, this tape.) which were important.

I think you meant to say Stamps instead of Eskimos when you were talking about that 49 yard Flutie TD.

What I meant regarding the Philpot fumble was that it happened on the 2nd to last Lions series, resulting in Calgary's final offensive series, leading to the Alexander block. Houlihan says that the fumble was with 3 minutes remaining, which seems about right. I'm guessing the Stamps had a quick 2 and out (Maybe running out some clock in FG range.). I didn't bother to explain anything after that like the block and the final drive because those are the parts that everyone remembers, plus it's in that link.

It's amazing how McLoughlin only needed to have made one of those three FG's for the Lions to only tie with a TD and 2 pointer.

I don't think they used to show the trophy presentations for Division Finals back then, and I haven't seen the end of a Division Final on TV since 2003, so I can't say if they do so now.

Good clearing that up, those Grey Cup awards were a real debacle. I guess I thought that Millington was demoted from MVP to MOC of the game as opposed to demoted from MOC. Also, it's the only time I can remember in my years that the Grey Cup didn't get presented on the field (Damn fans running on the field. But still, should've been held on the field.). Didn't see the footage until I got home that night.

Man, I wish I could add the video to YouTube but I don't really have the equipment to. If I ever do, this place will be the first to know. I guess I need to get a video capture card, I'll need to figure it out. It would be great to share it. The official video would be the first thing to put up, but I have lots of stuff taped from most of the road games from the past few years that would be great to post and also stuff from all 3 of the 2000 playoff games, plus the 2006 Grey Cup (I have every play from that game. When I tape Lions road games, it has a lot of the stuff in between plays cut out, so there's a real collection that would be great for YouTube. When I tape Lions home game stuff, it's just the highlights from Sportnet, TSN or the Score. But if TSN happens to do a re-airing of a home game after I get home from it, then I'll tape the highlights the same as a road game. So there's lots of stuff to potentially put up.).

[Robbie]

What I meant regarding the Philpot fumble was that it happened on the 2nd to last Lions series, resulting in Calgary's final offensive series, leading to the Alexander block. Houlihan says that the fumble was with 3 minutes remaining, which seems about right.

But didn't you say above that the second-to-last Lions series resulted in a missed FG by Lui Passaglia?

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

No, Lui's final miss was at the end of the 3rd to last Lions' series. 2nd to last was Philpot fumbling and the last was... well the last.

[mws]

I have a reissue of the 1959 Lions team jacket. I picked it up at the Hall of Fame in Hamilton during the Grey Cup weekend in '96. It's a beauty. Black wool bomber style with orange lettering.

[Ballistic Bob]

Now it has to be my personally signed WATER BOY from Bob Ackles at Ricks Sports and Stuff last October at his book signing. Got to meet the Legend and Mrs. Legend. Who knew. BB

[rickhale]

My grey cup used stuff from the 06 grey cup. i have joe smiths left hand glove Javier glatts right hand glove and buck peirces chinstrap from that game and they are all autographed. But what makes Joes glove the best was when i got back from winnipeghe was holding the cup with my glove prominenty displyed on the front page of the edmonton journal. Prettttttttty sweet i say

[ThreeTimesOneMinusOne]

I bought an Otis Floyd 3rd jersey last night that I picked up after the game, just like the one he taunted Avon Cobourne in before the '06 Grey Cup.